| (Robert Struckman writes for the Montana Change That Works campaign, which is a project of the Service Employee International Union.)
"Labor unions are a big part of the solution" to the nation's economic crisis, said President Barack Obama to the leaders of the AFL-CIO earlier this week.
Obama addressed the issue of unions as part of his continued support of the Employee Free Choice Act in a meeting with the nation's top labor leaders on Tuesday this week.
Obama's central points: labor unions will help rebuild the American middle class and will always have a seat at the table.
More words from Obama below:
"I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, and to my administration, labor unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests - because we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement....And as we confront this crisis and work to provide health care to every American, rebuild our nation's infrastructure, move toward a clean energy economy, and pass the Employee Free Choice Act, I want you to know that you will always have a seat at the table."
Yesterday, vice-president Joe Biden echoed Obama's remarks and added context. For instance, Biden said, worker productivity has increased almost 20 percent from 2000 to 2007, but wages fell by $2,000.
"If our basic bargain had been intact, if paychecks rose with productivity growth, as they did from World War II to the early '70s, families would have gained $10,000 over that period, instead of losing $2,000," Biden said. "This is all going to be difficult, and one of the most difficult things will be to reinstitute that basic bargain. I think the way to do that is the Employee Free Choice Act."
"If you've got workers who have a decent pay and benefits, they also are customers for your business," Biden said.
He also said the legal playing field on which employees and management contend must be level.
"I have a simple, basic belief," he said. "If a union is what you want, a union you're entitled to have." |
